Cradle of Creativity

Cradle of Creativity
One man was an architectural genius who used lines and geometric forms to shape a revolutionary philosophy of building design. The other barely passed sophomore geometry as a senior in high school, but became one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.

Together they put this Chicago suburb on the map of American culture.

Yet, despite their impact on tourism here, there was a time when Oak Park would rather not have claimed either legend.

"You must remember some people here didn't like Hemingway," said Virginia Cassin, aching at the sound of her own words. Aching because, as chairman of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, she has painstakingly spent 10 years of her retirement putting back the pieces of what was left of Hemingway's birthplace on Oak Park Avenue.

Yet even she can't refute the author's lifelong bouts with infidelity, alcoholism and mental illness -- and the fact that on July 2, 1961, he took his favorite shotgun and killed himself.

Then there's the controversial Frank Lloyd Wright, who brought a young bride here in 1889 and raised six children in a house and studio at 951 Chicago Ave. Twenty years later, after establishing remarkable success, he abruptly abandoned his wife, family and business and sailed for Europe with another married woman who had childr